Treating Anxiety Disorders
Everybody knows what it’s like to feel anxious – the butterflies in your stomach before a first date, the tension you feel when your boss is angry, the way your heart pounds if you’re in danger. Anxiety rouses you to action. It gears you up to face a threatening situation. It makes you study harder for that exam, and keeps you on your toes when you’re making a speech. In general, it helps you cope.
But if you have an anxiety disorder, this normally helpful emotion can do just the opposite — it can keep you from coping and can disrupt your daily life. Anxiety disorders aren’t just a case of the “nerves”. They are illnesses, often related to the biological makeup and life experiences of the individual, and they frequently run in families.
There are several types of anxiety disorders, each with its own distinct features. Just to name a few: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Phobia Disorder (Specific and Social), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Disorder.
An anxiety disorder may make you feel anxious most of the time, without any apparent reason. Or the anxious feelings may be so uncomfortable that to avoid them you may stop some everyday activities. Or you may have occasional bouts of anxiety so intense they terrify and immobilize you.
Anxiety disorders are the most common of all the mental disorders. At the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the Federal agency that conducts and supports research related to mental disorders, mental health, and the brain, scientists are learning more and more about the nature of anxiety disorders, their causes, and how to alleviate them. NIMH also conducts educational outreach activities about anxiety disorders and other mental illnesses.
Many people misunderstand these disorders and think individuals should be able to overcome the symptoms by sheer willpower. Wishing the symptoms away simply does not work – but there are treatments that can help. If you or someone you know has symptoms of anxiety or panic disorder, a visit to the family physician is usually the best place to start. A physician can help you determine if the symptoms are due to an anxiety disorder, some other medical condition, or both. Most often, the next step to getting treatment for an anxiety disorder is referral to a mental health professional.
Among the professionals who can help are psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors. For some people, group therapy or self-help groups are a helpful part of treatment.
An alternative form of treatment, and one that is gaining a lot of recognition (mainly due to it’s increasing number of successes) is that of self help. One of the better self-help programs I know of is simply called Panic Away. It may not be the best fit for you, but I think it’s certainly worth taking a look – click here for more info.
Remember, that when you find a health care professional you’re satisfied with, the two of you are working as a team. Together you will be able to develop a plan to treat your anxiety disorder.
